China's irresponsible attitude toward climate crisis threatens Tibet with water scarcity
India Today
China's illegal takeover of Tibet land has forced the nation to lose its essence and face degradation in various areas to a great extent.
The climate crisis in Tibet has gotten worse over time. China's illegal takeover of Tibetan land has forced the nation to lose its essence and face degradation in various areas.
Tibet was once a land where people's livelihoods were mostly dependent on farming, and rearing animals and adopting the nomadic lifestyle were also common. But since China's occupation, severe climate changes have made the Tibetan region vulnerable and the ice glaciers are melting at a concerning rate.
The climate crisis of Tibet must be on China's top list of concern and care since they claim to own the land, but China, since their occupation of the land has used Tibet, its people and its land for their own growth, be it socially or economically.Tibet is known as the "roof of the world" and is also called at times the "water tower of Asia". It is home to the world's third largest ice water source and provides water through its river sources to almost 2 billion of the Asian population, reported Tibet Press.But the alarming rate of increasing climate crisis in the nation is creating a worry for its future.The matter that causes the most worry is the fact that the drastic changes in the ecosystem would affect other aspects including agriculture and water that will eventually affect the livelihoods of the people who rely on Tibet for their water resources. The Tibetan plateau will apparently go through a great water loss due to global warming in this century itself.There have been warnings also released regarding how the severity of climate change will result in a change in the hotspots also. The reservoirs of the Tibetan Plateau that cover major parts of southern China and northern India rely fully on the monsoon for its water source and currently supply and fulfil the water demand of two billion people.Scientists however are finding it difficult to predict the ways in which the warming temperatures and the frequent changes in the weather patterns related to climate change will stir up the region's water storage.
This is mainly because of the complicated terrain of the Tibetan plateau. Over the two decades, satellite-based measurements have been used by researchers in China and the United States to know the net change in water and ice mass.
The Tibetan Plateau had reportedly lost over 10 billion tonnes of water a year since 2002 because of the escalating changes in the warm and wet climate, reported Tibet Press.
A study by researchers in China and the United States shows that the changes in the water storage all over the plateau seemed to have happened under a middle-of-the-road emissions scenario where the levels of carbon pollution stayed roughly at the current levels before falling gradually after 2050.
Out of all the water sources, two river basins have been specifically pointed out to be the most vulnerable ones. Central Asia's largest river, the Amu Darya shows a water loss that could be equal to 119 per cent of the current demand.
